


The Ghost of Order Street Library

by ToshiChan



Series: Lavi/Yuu Week 2018 [1]
Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Friendship/Love, Haunted Library, Haunting, M/M, laviyuu week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-13 15:25:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14115285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToshiChan/pseuds/ToshiChan
Summary: The library on Order Street was haunted. Everybody said it. And yet Kanda can't keep away. Because ghosts aren't real...right?





	The Ghost of Order Street Library

The old library on Order Street was haunted. Everybody said so. Everybody said that a young boy had died there ages ago and now he roamed the shelves, looking for people to talk to. Everybody looked over the small cramped building with the musty books and the one librarian in favour of the better newer one on Earl Road. The less haunted one. 

But Yuu Kanda wasn’t everybody. He did not prefer the library on Earl Road. He hated how bright and modern it was. He hated how crowded it got, packed full of mums with their screeching toddlers, school kids on class trips and uni students looking to flirt with Lenalee Lee who helped out every other day behind the desk. He hated how it was a library and yet it was so loud at times that his head wanted to explode. He hated pretty much everything about the sparkly new council building. 

So Kanda chose to go to the old library. There was nothing wrong with a slightly worn down building. Musty books weren’t bad as long as you could read them. Edgar the librarian was nice and always left Kanda alone. And, he didn’t believe in ghosts.

Still, Kanda couldn’t deny that there was something a little...weird about the old library on Order Street. No, it wasn’t haunted. Ghosts weren’t real. But it had this odd vibe to it, like something bad had happened their once and the evil of such an event had clung to its very foundations. No matter how many lights were installed, shadows seemed to grow and twist behind every aisle. The wind whistled through the windows and the heater never seemed to work. All of that could be passed off as an old building being old. And that’s mostly what Kanda did. 

He did however, investigate the history behind the library. Because sometimes there was truth behind a feeling. And rumours had to start from somewhere. If there was a story about a young boy dying, then something like that had probably happened. Besides, it wasn’t like Kanda didn’t have spare time on his hands. He liked to get his work done quickly so it was out of the way. Then he could spend more time on his hobbies. One of which happened to be the history of old places. Which none of his ‘friends’ were ever going to find about. 

So on one rainy afternoon, when Edgar was in the little room behind the desk doing some work, and nobody else had ventured into the library, Kanda begun to investigate. 

A small section of the wall at the back of the library housed a collection of faded black and white photographs that Edgar had said were of the opening day of the library. It was hard to make out the blurry features of the people in the photos or the small labels written on them but Kanda had come prepared with his own magnifying glass. Just as he was about to start looking, there was a loud crash from the shelf behind him.

Kanda spun, heart thumping harashly even as he tried to appear composed. A book had been pushed from one of the aisles, landing right at Kanda’s feet. There didn’t seem to be anyone in sight however. He spotted a flash of bright red and a swirl of green, but that was it.

“Hey!” He called. “Is someone else here?”

He’d thought the library was empty but it was possible somebody had snuck in to escape the rain. Sound was easily muffled in the old building and it was easy for Kanda to miss any sign of the outside world. 

Nobody answered his call and Kanda figured that the book had just been placed badly on the shelf and had eventually succumbed to gravity. He turned back to the photos and looked at the first of five through his magnifying glass. There was nothing that interesting to see, just a front on view of the building that had been built specially for the library. There was no people to be seen in it. The small writing proudly declared that this was ‘ _ the first photo taken of the Order Street Library in 1902’  _ which Kanda already knew about considering how much Edgar had babbled on about just how old the building was and how it pre-dated both World Wars. 

The next photo Kanda examined was similar to the first, taken closer to the library so that the open doors could be clearly seen. There was no writing to be found on this one.

“Come on.” Kanda muttered. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

Someone laughed behind him and he spun around once more. Shivers ran up his spine when he once again, saw absolutely nothing. But...how? Maybe he’d just heard Edgar. No, not possible. The sound had come from right behind him. So maybe he was imagining things. 

_ There is no such thing as ghosts. There is no such thing as ghosts. _

The words ran through Kanda’s head like a mantra as he bent to look at the third photo. This time it was a little more interesting. An old man was featured, standing in front of a polished wood desk and holding a few books in his hands. His face was creased in a tired but noble frown. The label on this one read ‘ _ B. Bookman in the newly finished Order Street Library.’  _ Now Kanda had the name of someone who’d worked there. Only problem was he already knew this name, also thanks to Edgar who never shut up about the first librarian. 

There was a faint shuffling sound near his feet but Kanda didn’t jump this time. He was reassured that it was just the creaky sighs of a tired building and not a ghost like Allen Walker would say. There was a fourth photo to look at, though this one was just an interior shot minus B. Bookman. There was a description on this one that just said ‘ _ Arrival of the Books’  _ and left it at that.

Kanda had to get down on his knees to look at the last photograph, due to its awkward positioning. He leant in closely, trying to make out what was being displayed. The wind whistled through the library eerily and in the distance, thunder rumbled warningly. Kanda barely heard it. He was too busy staring at the scene that had been frozen in time. 

It was the old man again, but this time he was joined by somebody else. This somebody else had wild hair and an eyepatch on his right eye. He was smiling at the camera, something mostly unseen back in those days when it took forever for an image to be captured. He wasn’t old in age, like B. Bookman. In fact he was...

He was a young boy.

Thunder boomed again and lightning flashed through the window. Kanda jumped backwards and slipped backwards on the book from before. He felt hard on his elbows and grunted in pain. He could’ve sworn the book hadn’t been so close before and yet here it was. Picking himself up, he looked down at the title.

**A History of Order Street Library**

Kanda had never seen this book in his entire life.

The Order Street Library had downsized over the years, as less and less people came to it. It was almost a museum by now. Many volumes of text had to be viewed in special conditions to stop the pages from crumbling away. It’s age was what kept it going. It was a stop on tours, normal ones and ghost ones alike. No new books ever arrived unless they too were antiques. Many books were sent away due to demand from the Earl Road library. 

So Kanda, a common sight in the building, had seen every book in the library at least once. He was sure of it.

And yet he’d never seen this one.

That he was sure of too.

Edgar had never mentioned it either. And that was strange. Edgar knew about Kanda’s interest in the library and had offered up all information he knew readily. He was always eager to chat about the history of the place. There was no way he would’ve kept a book like that a secret.

Kanda reached down to pick up the volume, stopping just before he could. For a moment, he was almost afraid to pick it up. But that was stupid. It was just a book. It had probably been lost in the library for years or something like that.

_ There is no such thing as ghosts. There is no such thing as ghosts.  _

Kanda picked up the book.

It was solid in his hands. He laughed a little, mentally scolding himself for expecting anything different. And behind him, he heard a giggle. 

“Shut up.” He muttered absently. Great, now he was talking to his imagination.

He sat back down on the floor and begun to flick through the pages. The book was apparently written in 1920 by an author only known as L. D. B. Most of the information in it was boring and stuff that he vaguely knew about already. Things like who funded the building, why it was originally built and all that stuff. Kanda was more interested in the people who’d worked in the library. And it was finally, when he reached the last few chapters, that he found was he was looking for.

B. Bookman was a reclusive man, the book said. His first name remained unknown to everybody in his life and as such, he was only ever called Bookman. He was formerly a history teacher and he dedicated all his time after that to the library. It took years for him to get it built and by the time it finally stood tall and proud, he was very old. Not too old as to die too soon after the library was built, but old enough that he needed somebody to help him run the place.

That help came in the form of his grandson, a young boy named Lavi who’d been orphaned after a horrific car crash that killed B. Bookman’s son and daughter in law. Lavi, according to the book, was very bright and was the intended successor of B. Bookman once he had passed on.

_ Intended… _

Kanda looked up from the book and saw another flash of red and green. It was gone before he could fully process it however, and he firmly told himself that it was just a result of reading in a dark corner for a while. Reading more wasn’t going to help but he back looked down anyway and slowly, the tragic story came to life before him.

_ World War I took the world by storm in 1914. Lavi Bookman should have been expected to serve his country in the army as all men were. However, Bookman’s loss of sight in his right eye and his young age of fifteen prevented him from fighting in the war. It is said that Lavi Bookman did not wish for war like the other young men. He did not take to the streets to curse his ‘bad luck’ with those too young or too injured. He instead remained in the library with his grandfather. They chose to document the war as best they could in a different way of serving their country.  _

Kanda had read those documents. So the two writers were Lavi and B. Bookman? Those documents had ended abruptly in 1917 however. What could’ve…

_ Lavi Bookman turned eighteen in 1916. He was now eligible to join the army. However, as previously mentioned, his eye kept him from doing so. By now, it had become clear that the war was not a glorious adventure but rather a hellish nightmare that men were desperate to escape from. Those who had not fought did not understand. They took to blaming those who were not playing what they saw as an acceptable part.  _

_Lavi Bookman’s eye injury was not seen as something that should have prevented him from fighting by some. A rogue group of men who wanted to play their part, but couldn’t, grew angry at Lavi. They claimed that he thought he was too good to join his country, and that he hated humanity._ _They said Lavi thought he was above them. At first the only action the group of men took was angry letters and abuse shouted from the other side of the road. However, it escalated as the war did._

Kanda closed his eyes for a moment. He knew as soon as he’d seen the young boy in the photo (obviously Lavi) that this story wasn’t going to end well. The library was haunted, they said. By a young boy. There was truth in every story,

A young boy.

Murdered.

Steeling himself, Kanda opened his eyes and kept reading.

_ On December Fifth, 1917, five men from the gang who had been bothering Lavi stormed the library. B. Bookman had fallen ill the week before and had been encouraged to stay home by his grandson to get some much needed rest. The building was not yet open for the day as hours had been shortened due to the war. The only other librarian had the day off. Lavi Bookman was the only soul in the library. _

_ The five men all carried guns that they had been given at the start of the war for defense. They tracked Lavi down and shot him twenty one times. They didn’t even give him time to run or talk them down or plead. They found him with a book in his hand and a patch over his eye and they shot him. They shot him dead! He was only eighteen and all he wanted was to read and write and tell stories! And they ended his! They never gave him a chance to live it! He’d escaped death once and then he met it in the back of a library that he loved so fucking much and _

“...and it wasn’t fair, it was never fair. It wasn’t fair because everybody forgot about Lavi. Because nobody wanted to admit that England could do such a thing to one of their own, one of their own who had been exempt from the war and was still doing his part to record it. They got rid of Lavi and his grandfather had to choice but to go along with it because what if they got rid of the library, the library that Lavi loved so much and died in, in the last aisle, a book in his hand and a patch over his eye and-”

Kanda looked up. He wasn’t reading anymore. He’d never been reading. There’d never been a book. He’d been listening to…

Lavi!

In front of him, floating in the air, cross legged and crying, was a young boy with vibrant red hair and a green cardigan. Tears dripped from the uncovered eye but not from the other. His hands were clenched into tight fists which he beat against nothing.

“Lavi died and they buried him somewhere but nobody knows where because he never existed and everybody agreed to pretend there was never a boy named-”

“Lavi…” Kanda whispered. The boy’s head shot up.

“Oh...hey Kanda.” He smiled but it was so fake it hurt.

“You’re a ghost…” Kanda stared. 

“Nope.” Lavi winked (or was it blinked) before giggling a little. It was the laugh from before. “Okay, I am. But you don’t believe in ghosts. So what now.”

“You’re floating.” Kanda breathed. 

Lavi’s smile spread. There was touch of genuineness in it. “Excellent observation, Einstein.”

“I don’t believe in what I can’t see. But I can see you.” 

“So you believe in me?” Lavi asked hopefully.

Kanda shrugged. “Guess so.” He sounded calm but on the inside he was breaking down. Every preconceived idea he had about the universe was wrong and he didn’t know how to handle that. But he couldn’t show Lavi that. 

“Woah there. Focus on me.” Lavi clicked his fingers in front of Kanda’s face. It seemed he knew somehow anyway. “Stay with me. I know it’s weird but it’s not like you didn’t have any warning. Everybody knows this library is haunted.”

“Don’t ghosts not want to be seen?” Kanda struggled to get out. He wanted to make sense of this, so maybe he would stop feeling so crazy on the inside.

“Probably. Nobody ever told me how to be a good ghost.” Lavi bobbed up and down. “Besides, I love this place too much. And I like people. And scaring assholes. I like a lot of things that mean being seen from time to time. Didn’t bother Edgar really.”

“Edgar knows about you?” Kanda looked in the direction of the front desk.

“Course he does.” Lavi laughed. “We’re great friends.”

“Hmmph.” Kanda folded his arms.

“Aw, are you grumpy that he didn’t tell you about me?” Lavi laughed. He didn’t seem so torn apart like had when he’d been describing his death. Instead, Kanda was the one in turmoil now.

“No.”

_ Yes. _

“Why show yourself to me now?” Kanda asked quickly. Not to change the subject, of course. Just because he wanted to know.

“Figured it was time.” Lavi fiddled with his eyepatch. “You were getting interested in me. You wanted answers that don’t exist anywhere but with me. Therefore…”

“So you’re dead.”

“Think we already worked that one out.”

“And you died over one hundred years ago.”

“Correct again.”

“And you’re wearing a cardigan from...Target?” 

“Hey! I can look like however I want to.” Lavi swatted at the air. “Get off my back. You only own like three shirts.”

“How do you even know that?!”

“...”

“You’ve been spying on me!”

“I can neither confirm nor deny that, Yuu.”

“You even know my first name!” Kanda roared. Lavi held up his hands placatingly. 

“Look, it gets boring here, no matter how much I love it. I’ve read every book a hundred times. They keep taking them away from me as well, and never bringing any in. The most interesting thing here is the people. Because they like this place, despite everything.” Lavi smiled softly. “This place...I love it so much. And you’re in here so much, I knew you loved it too. So I was interested in you.”

“You can’t leave?” Kanda asked. He was feeling a little better, even though he still couldn’t quite believe he was talking to a ghost. 

“Nope.” Lavi sighed. “Don’t even know how I got to be here. I’m not going to get angry about it though. Did enough of it right after I died. I figure I should be happy now. I know I’m dead but I’m still living in a way. Make sense?”

“Sure.” Kanda said, because he did sort of get it. 

“Dying is funny.” Lavi said in a distant voice. “One moment, my entire body was on fire and I was crying for my mum and my dad and my grandpa, and the next I was floating above these men who just kept shooting my body even after I was dead. I was dead after the third bullet.”

“They did that to you? Just because they thought you hated humanity.”

“I do hate humanity. Look what they did to me.”

Lavi’s healthy form grew pale. His eyes sunk inwards and dulled. His hair dropped and faded. Blood blossomed from various holes his clothes, bright colours amongst his grey pallor. A trickle of the ruby red ran from his mouth. A word appeared on his forward, scrawled in harsh ink.

**COWARD.**

“Killing me wasn’t enough. They had to deface my body as well.” Lavi rubbed at the ink but it stayed there. 

“Lavi...I…”

“Yeah,” Lavi’s lips tweaked up in a pathetic attempt of a smile. “Horrible, right?”

“Revolting.” Kanda breathed.

“This is what men do. They kill and they take and they don’t even think. They took me away from everyone and they couldn’t even stop there...they couldn’t...they couldn’t…”

Lavi’s head dropped and a horrible choking sob emitted from him. His body shook with sobs. Kanda didn’t know what to do. How was he supposed to comfort an eighteen year old boy who was also a ghost and had been for one hundred years. What could he do? What could he say?

What was there to say?

“Kanda.” Lavi said finally, after what felt like hours. His tears had dried up, if a ghost’s tears could in fact do that.  “You can say no. I swear I won’t be mad if you do. But maybe...maybe we could be friends? Cause I know I hate humanity but not all of it and especially not you. So I’d really like to be your friend.”

Kanda looked at the ghost in front of him. The ghost of the Order Street Library. The ghost with vibrant red hair and a piercing green eye. The ghost who was a boy who’d died too soon because of stupid selfish men. The boy with a bright smile that was too fake sometimes and too real other times. 

The boy he could see himself becoming friends with if he was alive today, no matter how annoying he could apparently be. 

And why should being dead or alive matter?

“Yes.” Kanda smiled. For the first time that afternoon, things felt right. “I’d love that.”

And he meant it.

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this super quickly because I realised I really miss D Gray Man and had to join in on this week for not only my fave D Gray Man ship but one of my fave ships everywhere. I don't even know where this story came from honestly, but it uses the day 2 prompts mystery, eerie, secrets and out of reach. 
> 
> I recommend listening to songs like Willow Tree March and Out of the Darkness while listening to this, cause I did!
> 
> Hope you enjoy, wonder what I'll do for tomorrow! Please leave a comment and kudos if you enjoyed!!!!!!!!


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